The Sierra Peaks Section (SPS) is a

mountaineering Mountaineering, mountain climbing, or alpinism is a set of outdoor activities that involves ascending mountains. Mountaineering-related activities include traditional outdoor climbing, skiing, and traversing via ferratas that have become mounta ...

society within the Angeles Chapter of the

Sierra Club The Sierra Club is an American environmental organization with chapters in all 50 U.S. states, Washington, D.C., Washington D.C., and Puerto Rico. The club was founded in 1892, in San Francisco, by preservationist John Muir. A product of the Pro ...

that serves to provide mountaineering activities for Sierra Club members in the

Sierra Nevada The Sierra Nevada ( ) is a mountain range in the Western United States, between the Central Valley of California and the Great Basin. The vast majority of the range lies in the state of California, although the Carson Range spur lies primari ...

, and to honor mountaineers who have summited Sierra Nevada peaks.

History

The Sierra Peaks Section was established in 1955. The Section maintains historic summit registers at

Bancroft Library The Bancroft Library is the primary special-collections library of the University of California, Berkeley. It was acquired from its founder, Hubert Howe Bancroft, in 1905, with the proviso that it retain the name Bancroft Library in perpetuity. ...

on the

University of California, Berkeley The University of California, Berkeley (UC Berkeley, Berkeley, Cal, or California), is a Public university, public Land-grant university, land-grant research university in Berkeley, California, United States. Founded in 1868 and named after t ...

campus.

Membership

To become a member of the SPS, one must be a Sierra Club member and have climbed at least six peaks on the SPS List; it is not necessary that the peaks be Emblem peaks. For verification purposes, two of those ascents must be done on an official SPS trip. Especially accomplished members are award with ''emblems'', with the following grades (from highest to lowest): * Third List Completion * Second List Completion * First List Completion * Master Emblem * Senior Emblem * Emblem Upon receiving one of the normal emblems, members may be recognized with one of the following additional emblems, which are not ranked: * Geographic Emblem * Explorer Emblem

SPS List

To the general public, they are most known for their

peak bagging Peak bagging or hill bagging is an activity in which Hiking, hikers, climbing, climbers, and Mountaineering, mountaineers attempt to reach a collection of summits, published in the form of a list. This activity has been popularized around the world ...

list, created in 1955, a product of the Sierra Club's long legacy of promoting climbing in the Sierra Nevada. Completing the list is highly prestigious in American mountaineering circles, and climbers who complete the list are often cited as having done so (e.g. by the

American Alpine Club The American Alpine Club (AAC) is a non-profit member organization with more than 26,000 members. The club is housed in the American Mountaineering Center (AMC) in Golden, Colorado. Through its members, the AAC advocates for American climbers d ...

). The list is divided into three levels of importance. The ''Emblem'' peaks are considered the most iconic peaks of the Sierra Nevada, and to summit all of them is the goal of many peak baggers and alpinists. ''Mountaineers'' peaks are less notable peaks known for presenting mountaineering challenges; they do not have the prestige that Emblem peaks have attached to them, but ascending them is necessary to gain higher levels of recognition for Section members. Finally, there are the numerous general peaks of lesser note. Some peaks require substantial rock

climbing Climbing is the activity of using one's hands, feet, or other parts of the body to ascend a steep topographical object that can range from the world's tallest mountains (e.g. the eight thousanders) to small boulders. Climbing is done for locom ...

experience (e.g.

North Palisade North Palisade is the third-highest mountain in the Sierra Nevada range of California, and one of the state's small number of peaks over 14,000 feet, known as fourteeners. It is the highest peak of the Palisades group of peaks in the central pa ...

and Mount Clarence King), and in some cases snow travel skills. Most peaks may require few technical skills, although the commonly cited difficulty ratings of peak climbs in the Sierra Nevada are considered to be understated, or “ sandbagged”. The majority of peaks are very remote and require substantial cross-country travel. The list is an example of a subjective "decision by committee" list with the peaks on the list being determined by the Sierra Club. Peaks are occasionally added or removed from the list due to a variety of factors, such as accessibility, notability, and interest. The list is followed by thousands of hikers and climbers and has been noted in numerous books and guides on the Sierra Nevada. There are 15 Emblem peaks, 35 Mountaineers peaks, and 197 general peaks, for a total of 247 peaks. The number of peaks is traditionally set at 248, the original number of peaks listed in 1955; however the number changes at times due to issues such as legal access or higher interest in one peak over another. The elevations listed below are those officially described on the list (based on USGS topographic map contours), and may not be the actual elevations of those peaks, although they are usually accurate to within 50 feet.

Emblem Peaks

Mountaineers Peaks

Full list

Area 1: Southern Sierra

# Pilot Knob (''suspended'') # Owens Peak # Spanish Needle # Lamont Peak # Sawtooth Peak # Rockhouse Peak # Taylor Dome # Sirretta Peak # Crag Peak # Smith Mountain

Area 2: Mineral King and Kern River

# Kern Peak # Angora Mountain # Coyote Peaks # North Maggie Mountain # Moses Mountain # Homers Nose # Vandever Mountain # Florence Peak # Sawtooth Peak #

Needham Mountain Needham Mountain is a mountain summit of the Sierra Nevada, located in Tulare County, California. It is located in the southern Sierra Nevada, in the central part of Sequoia National Park. Needham Mountain is miles east of Mineral King, northe ...

Area 3: Olancha to Langley and west

#'' Olancha Peak'' #

Cartago Peak Cartago may refer to: * Cartago, Valle del Cauca, Colombia * Cartago Province, Costa Rica * Cartago, Costa Rica, capital of the province of Cartago * Cartago, California, United States See also * Carthage (disambiguation) in Latin and related la ...

# Muah Mountain # Cirque Peak # Mount Langley # Mount Guyot # Joe Devel Peak # Mount Pickering # Mount Chamberlin # Mount Newcomb #

Mount Hitchcock Mount Hitchcock is a mountain located in South Hadley and Hadley, Massachusetts. It reaches 1,002 feet (305 m) at its peak in South Hadley. The Metacomet-Monadnock Trail runs through it as it does for all the Holyoke Range. To the west is ...

Area 4: Corcoran to Whitney

# Mount Corcoran #

Mount LeConte Mount Le Conte (or Mount LeConte) can refer to: * Mount Le Conte (California) * Mount Le Conte (Tennessee) Mount Le Conte (or LeConte) is a mountain located within the Great Smoky Mountains National Park in Sevier County, Tennessee. At it is ...

# Mount Mallory # Mount Irvine # Mount McAdie # Mount Muir #''

Mount Whitney Mount Whitney (Paiute: ''Too-man-i-goo-yah'' or ''Too-man-go-yah'') is a mountain in the Sierra Nevada mountain range of California, and the highest point in the contiguous United States, with an elevation of . It lies in East–Central Califor ...

'' # Thor Peak # Lone Pine Peak

Area 5: Whitney to Williamson

# Mount Young # Mount Hale # Mount Russell #

Mount Carillon Mount Carillon is a mountain summit located on the crest of the Sierra Nevada mountain range in California. It is situated on the common border of Tulare County with Inyo County, as well as the shared boundary of Sequoia National Park and John ...

# Tunnabora Peak # Mount Barnard # Trojan Peak # Mount Tyndall #''

Mount Williamson Mount Williamson, at an elevation of , is the second-highest mountain in both the Sierra Nevada (U.S.), Sierra Nevada range and the state of California, and the sixth-highest peak in the contiguous United States. Geography Williamson stands i ...

Area 6: Kaweahs and west

# Alta Peak # Mount Silliman #

Mount Eisen Mount Eisen is a double summit mountain located on the Great Western Divide of the Sierra Nevada mountain range, in Tulare County of northern California. It is situated in Sequoia National Park, south of Lippincott Mountain. Mount Eisen rank ...

Lippincott Mountain Lippincott Mountain is a mountain summit with an elevation of , located on the Great Western Divide of the Sierra Nevada mountain range, in Tulare County of northern California. It is situated in Sequoia National Park, north of Mount Eisen, an ...

Eagle Scout Peak Eagle Scout Peak is a mountain on the Great Western Divide of the southern Sierra Nevada. The mountain is located in the backcountry of Sequoia National Park. The mountain sits immediately to the south of Kaweah Gap along the main crest of the ...

Mount Stewart Mount Stewart is a 19th-century house and garden in County Down, Northern Ireland, owned by the National Trust. Situated on the east shore of Strangford Lough, a few miles outside the town of Newtownards and near Greyabbey, it was the Iris ...

Lion Rock Lion Rock, or less formally Lion Rock Hill, is a List of mountains, peaks and hills in Hong Kong, mountain in Hong Kong. It is located in Sha Tin District, between Kowloon Tong of Kowloon and Tai Wai of the New Territories, and is high. The ...

#''

Mount Kaweah Mount Kaweah () is a mountain in California's Sequoia National Park and forms part of the Kaweah Peaks Ridge, a spur of the Great Western Divide which extends south from Triple Divide Peak. It has a summit elevation of , the highest along the ...

'' # Red Kaweah # Black Kaweah # Picket Guard Peak # Kern Point

Area 7: Great Western Divide

# Triple Divide Peak # Glacier Ridge #

Whaleback A whaleback was a type of cargo steamship of unusual design, with a hull that continuously curved above the waterline from vertical to horizontal. When fully loaded, only the rounded portion of the hull (the "whaleback" proper) could be seen a ...

# Milestone Mountain # Midway Mountain #

Table Mountain Table Mountain (; ) is a flat-topped mountain forming a prominent landmark overlooking the city of Cape Town in South Africa. It is a significant tourist attraction, with many visitors using the Table Mountain Aerial Cableway, cableway or hik ...

# Thunder Mountain #

South Guard South Guard is a remote mountain summit located near the northern end of the Great Western Divide of the Sierra Nevada mountain range, in Tulare County of northern California. It is situated in Kings Canyon National Park, south of North Guar ...

#'' Mount Brewer'' # North Guard

Area 8: Kings–Kern divide

# Mount Jordan # Mount Genevra # Mount Ericsson #

Mount Stanford Mount Stanford, at an elevation of , is on the Kings-Kern Divide in Kings Canyon National Park. It is named for Stanford University. It is the fifteenth tallest mountain in California and is located about from University Peak which was named f ...

# Deerhorn Mountain # East Vidette # West Vidette #

Junction Peak Junction Peak is a thirteener in the Sierra Nevada. Joseph Nisbet LeConte chose this name in 1896, noting that it marks the point where the Sierra Crest crosses the water divide of the Kern and Kings rivers. Today it also is the boundary betwe ...

Mount Keith Mount Keith is a mountain on the crest of California's Sierra Nevada (U.S.), Sierra Nevada, between Mount Bradley to the north, and Junction Peak to the southwest. Its north and west facing slopes feed the Kings River (California), Kings River ...

# Mount Bradley # Center Peak # Caltech Peak

Area 9: Kearsarge Pass vicinity

# University Peak #

Independence Peak Independence Peak or Qullai Istiqlol (; ), at , is the seventh-highest peak in the Pamir Mountains, located at the center of Tajikistan's Gorno-Badakhshan Autonomous Province, above the source of the Yazgulem River in the Yazgulem Range. Th ...

# Kearsarge Peak # Mount Gould # Mount Rixford # Mount Bago # Mount Gardiner #

Mount Cotter Mount Cotter, located in the Kings Canyon National Park, is named for Dick Cotter who was a packer with the California Geological Survey in 1864. Cotter and Clarence King Clarence Rivers King (January 6, 1842 – December 24, 1901) was an Ame ...

#'' Mount Clarence King'' # Dragon Peak # Black Mountain # Diamond Peak

The Thumb The Thumb is a region and a peninsula of the U.S. state of Michigan, so named because the Lower Peninsula of Michigan, Lower Peninsula is shaped like a mitten. The Thumb area is generally considered to be in the Central Michigan region, east of t ...

# Disappointment Peak #

Middle Palisade Middle Palisade is a peak in the central Sierra Nevada mountain range in the U.S. state of California. It is a fourteener, and lies on the Sierra Crest as part of the Palisades group, a group of prominent Sierra Nevada mountain summits that in ...

# Norman Clyde Peak # Palisade Crest

Area 13: Mt. Goddard vicinity

# Observation Peak # Giraud Peak # Devil's Crag #1 # Wheel Mountain # Mount McDuffie # Black Giant #

Charybdis Charybdis (; , ; , ) is a sea monster in Greek mythology. Charybdis, along with the sea monster Scylla, appears as a challenge to epic characters such as Odysseus, Jason, and Aeneas. Scholarship locates her in the Strait of Messina. The idiom " ...

Scylla In Greek mythology, Scylla ( ; , ) is a legendary, man-eating monster that lives on one side of a narrow channel of water, opposite her counterpart, the sea-swallowing monster Charybdis. The two sides of the strait are within an arrow's range o ...

#''

Mount Goddard Mount Goddard is a mountain of California's Sierra Nevada (U.S.), Sierra Nevada, in the north section of Kings Canyon National Park. Goddard forms the southwest boundary of the Evolution Basin. The peak is named for civil engineer George Henry ...

'' # Mount Reinstein # Finger Peak # Tunemah Peak

Area 14: North Palisades

# Temple Crag # Mount Gayley # Mount Sill #''

'' # Thunderbolt Peak # Mount Winchell # Mount Agassiz # Mount Goode #

Cloudripper Cloudripper is a mountain summit located two miles east of the crest of the Sierra Nevada mountain range in Inyo County of northern California, United States. It is situated in the Palisades area of the John Muir Wilderness, on land managed by ...

# Mount Johnson # Mount Gilbert

Area 15: Evolution area

# Mount Thompson # Point Powell # Mount Wallace #

Mount Haeckel Mount Haeckel is a mountain summit located on the crest of the Sierra Nevada mountain range in northern California, United States. It is situated on the shared boundary of Kings Canyon National Park with John Muir Wilderness, and along the comm ...

Mount Fiske Mount Fiske is a mountain summit located near the crest of the Sierra Nevada mountain range, in Fresno County of northern California California () is a U.S. state, state in the Western United States that lies on the West Coast of the U ...

# Mount Huxley #'' Mount Darwin'' # Mount Mendel # Mount Lamarck # The Hermit # Mount McGee # Emerald Peak # Mount Henry

Area 16: Humphreys Basin and west

# Mount Goethe # Mount Emerson #''

Mount Humphreys Mount Humphreys is a mountain peak in the Sierra Nevada on the Fresno- Inyo county line in the U.S. state of California. It is the 13th highest peak in California (the highest peak that is not a fourteener), and the highest peak in the Bishop ...

'' # Basin Mountain # Four Gables # Mount Tom # Pilot Knob #

Gemini Gemini most often refers to: * Gemini (constellation), one of the constellations of the zodiac * Gemini (astrology), an astrological sign Gemini may also refer to: Science and technology Space * Gemini in Chinese astronomy, the Gemini constellat ...

# Seven Gables # Mount Senger #

Mount Hooper Mount Hooper is a 12,349-foot (3,764 meter) high mountain summit located west of the crest of the Sierra Nevada mountain range in Fresno County, California, Fresno County of northern California, United States. It is set within the John Muir ...

Area 17: Bear Creek Spire area

# Merriam Peak #

Royce Peak Royce Peak, also known as Mount Royce, is a mountain summit located west of the Royce Lakes in the Sierra Nevada mountain range in northern California, United States. It is situated in Fresno County, in the John Muir Wilderness, on land managed ...

# Mount Julius Caesar # Mount Hilgard # Recess Peak # Mount Gabb #

Bear Creek Spire Bear Creek Spire is a mountain in the Sierra Nevada in Inyo County, California, in the western United States, and is the 46th highest mountain in California and the 225th highest mountain in the United States. Bear Creek Spire is part of the John ...

# Mount Dade #'' Mount Abbot'' # Mount Mills # Mount Morgan

Area 18: Mono Creek to Mammoth

# Silver Peak #

Mount Izaak Walton Mount Izaak Walton is a mountain summit located in the Sierra Nevada mountain range in Fresno County of northern California, United States. It is situated in the John Muir Wilderness, on land managed by Sierra National Forest. Mount Izaak Walt ...

Red and White Mountain Red and White Mountain is a remote mountain summit located on the crest of the Sierra Nevada mountain range in northern California, United States. It is situated in the John Muir Wilderness on the shared boundary of Sierra National Forest with ...

# Red Slate Mountain #

# Mount Morgan # Mount Baldwin # Mount Morrison # Bloody Mountain

Area 19: Ritter Range and vicinity

# Iron Mountain # Clyde Minaret #''

Mount Ritter Mount Ritter is the highest mountain in Madera County, California, in the Western United States, at an elevation of . It is also the highest and most prominent peak of its namesake, the Ritter Range, a subrange of the Sierra Nevada in the Anse ...

'' #

Banner Peak Banner Peak is the second tallest peak in the Ritter Range of California's Sierra Nevada. The mountain is tall, and there are several glaciers on its slopes. It lies within the boundaries of the Ansel Adams Wilderness; at the foot of the pea ...

# Mount Davis # Rodgers Peak #

Electra Peak Electra Peak is a mountain, broadly in the Tuolumne Meadows area of Yosemite National Park, if far, from the road. Electra Peak is the 14th highest mountain in Yosemite National Park. Electra Peak may have been named for a play called ''Electr ...

# Foerster Peak # San Joaquin Mountain

Area 20: Clark Range and vicinity

Merced Peak Merced Peak, with an elevation of , is the highest point in the Clark Range, just surpassing three other peaks; Red Peak (11,704 feet), Gray Peak (11,578 feet), and Mount Clark (11,527 feet). Merced Peak is located close to southern border ...

# Red Peak # Gray Peak # Mount Clark # Mount Starr King #

Half Dome Half Dome is a quartz monzonite batholith at the eastern end of Yosemite Valley in Yosemite National Park, California. It is a well-known rock formation in the park, named for its distinct shape. One side is a sheer face while the other three s ...

Clouds Rest Clouds Rest is a mountain in Yosemite National Park, located east-northeast of Yosemite Village, California. Although there are many peaks in the park having far greater elevation, the proximity of Clouds Rest to the valley gives it a very hig ...

Area 21: Mt. Lyell and north

# Cathedral Peak # Vogelsang Peak # Mount Florence #

Mount Maclure Mount Maclure is the nearest neighbor to Mount Lyell, the highest point in Yosemite National Park. Mount Maclure is the fifth-highest mountain of Yosemite. Mount Maclure is located at the southeast end of the Cathedral Range, about northwest of ...

#'' Mount Lyell'' # Koip Peak #

Mount Gibbs Mount Gibbs is located in the Sierra Nevada of the U.S. state of California, south of Mount Dana. The mountain was named in honor of Oliver Gibbs, a professor at Harvard University and friend of Josiah Whitney. The summit marks the boundary ...

Mount Dana Mount Dana is a mountain in the U.S. state of California. Its summit marks the eastern boundary of Yosemite National Park and the western boundary of the Ansel Adams Wilderness. At an elevation of , it is the second highest mountain in Yosemite ...

Area 22: Tioga Pass to Bond Pass

# Mount Warren #

Mount Conness Mount Conness is a mountain in the Sierra Nevada range, to the west of the Hall Natural Area. Conness is on the boundary between the Inyo National Forest and Yosemite National Park. The Conness Glacier lies north of the summit. History Moun ...

# North Peak #

Excelsior Mountain Excelsior Mountain can refer to * Excelsior Mountain (Yosemite) in California, U.S. * Excelsior Mountain (Alberta) in the Maligne Range in Canada * Excelsior Mountain of the North Cascades in Washington state, U.S. * Excelsior Mountains The ...

# Dunderberg Peak # Virginia Peak #

Twin Peaks ''Twin Peaks'' is an American Surrealist cinema, surrealist Mystery film, mystery-Horror film, horror Drama (film and television), drama television series created by Mark Frost and David Lynch. It Pilot (Twin Peaks), premiered on American Broad ...

# Whorl Mountain #'' Matterhorn Peak'' # Pettit Peak # Volunteer Peak #

Piute Mountain Paiute (; also Piute) refers to three non-contiguous groups of Indigenous peoples of the Great Basin. Although their languages are related within the Numic group of Uto-Aztecan languages, these three languages do not form a single subgroup and the ...

Tower Peak Tower Peak may refer to: * Tower Peak (Antarctica) in Graham Land, Antarctica * Tower Peak (British Columbia) in the Beaverfoot Range, British Columbia, Canada * Tower Peak (California) in California, United States * Tower Peak (Montana) in Mo ...

Area 23: Bond Pass to Lake Tahoe

# Black Hawk Mountain #

Leavitt Peak Leavitt Peak is located in the Emigrant Wilderness near Sonora Pass in the eastern Sierra Nevada range of California. Leavitt Peak is located on the Tuolumne County - Mono County line. The Pacific Crest Trail runs close to the east of Leavitt P ...

Stanislaus Peak Stanislaus Peak is a prominent peak near Sonora Pass in the Sierra Nevada range in California, United States. It is located in the Carson–Iceberg Wilderness in the federally-managed Stanislaus National Forest. Geology Stanislaus peak is an anc ...

# Disaster Peak # Highland Peak # Mokelumne Peak #

Round Top Round Top or Roundtop may refer to: Communities * Kirkwood, California, formerly Roundtop, a census-designated place * Round Top, Pennsylvania, a community adjacent to the Gettysburg National Military Park * Round Top, Texas, a town * Roundtop, Wes ...

Freel Peak Freel Peak is a mountain located in the Carson Range, a spur of the Sierra Nevada, near Lake Tahoe in California. The peak is on the boundary between El Dorado County and Alpine County; and the boundary between the Eldorado National Forest an ...

# Pyramid Peak #

Dicks Peak Dicks Peak is a mountain summit located in the Sierra Nevada mountain range in El Dorado County, California, El Dorado County, California, United States. It is the third-highest peak in the Desolation Wilderness, and is set on land managed by ...

Mount Tallac Mount Tallac is a mountain peak southwest of Lake Tahoe, in El Dorado County, California, El Dorado County, California. The peak lies within the Desolation Wilderness in the Eldorado National Forest. It is quite visible from California State Rout ...

Area 24: Northern Sierra

Granite Chief Granite Chief is a mountain located in the Sierra Nevada near Lake Tahoe Lake Tahoe (; Washo language, Washo: ''dáʔaw'') is a Fresh water, freshwater lake in the Sierra Nevada of the Western United States, straddling the border between ...

Tinker Knob Tinker Knob is an mountain summit in Placer County, California, Placer County, California, United States. Description Tinker Knob is located south-southeast of Donner Pass and northwest of Lake Tahoe, on land managed by Tahoe National Fores ...

# Castle Peak # Mount Rose # Mount Lola #

English Mountain English Mountain is a mountain located in the northeastern foothills of the Great Smoky Mountains region of East Tennessee. Rising to a peak of 3,629 feet, it is known for offering scenic fall colors within a convenient drive from Knoxville. A f ...

Sierra Buttes Sierra Buttes is an mountain summit located in the Sierra Nevada mountain range in Sierra County, California, United States. It is the third-highest point in Sierra County following the north ridge of Mount Lola and Peak 8740. Sierra Buttes ...